


The Fosters' Magic

by DragonSaphiraReads



Series: Fluffuary 2020 [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Single Dads AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:14:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22533085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonSaphiraReads/pseuds/DragonSaphiraReads
Summary: Single dad Logan takes his kids to the neighborhood park and meets another father raising kids of his own.
Relationships: Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Fluffuary 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619986
Comments: 3
Kudos: 98





	The Fosters' Magic

**Author's Note:**

> Like listening to podfics? You can listen to this oneshot on my YT channel! https://youtu.be/RawkVKJKEtw

"Virgil! Get your shoes on!" Logan called out to his older son, pulling a fresh shirt onto Ernest. The toddler squirmed with excitement, making it harder for Logan to actually dress the child. He heard a groan in response to his call, and no movement from downstairs. 

"He's being difficult, right Daddy?" Logan chuckled as his younger son spoke, parroting the words Logan often said himself.

"That's right. Come on now, let's go get your brother ready and we'll walk to the park, ok?"

Ernest bounced happily and agreed, and Logan picked him up and headed down the stairs, seeing Virgil lounging on the couch. He was staring at his phone and was making no move to get up, or even to acknowledge his father standing in front of him. 

"Virgil, come on. We're going to the park." Logan told him, and Virgil simply grunted. Ernest started wiggling in Logan's arms, getting impatient. 

"Please, Bee! I wanna go!"

Virgil wrinkled his nose, still not looking up. "I'm not a little kid, Dad. I don't want to go play on the swings or whatever."

Logan wasn't swayed. "Then you can sit with me on the benches and play on your phone. But we all need some fresh air. Besides, Ernest wants to play with you, isn't that right?"

"Yeah!" The toddler piped up. Virgil didn't respond for a moment, but after Logan stood firm and refused to back down, he finally groaned and flung his legs off the couch, clearly not happy and making sure his father knew it. Logan didn't care about that - his elder son rarely went outside, and he didn't want it to affect his mental health and make it any worse than it already was. 

"Thank you, Virgil." He murmured as his son brushed past him, while Ernest clapped his hands in excitement. The pre-teen huffed, but he put on his shoes without any further complaint. 

The park was just a few minutes walk from their house. Logan let the toddler down when they stepped onto the sidewalk, and he immediately latched onto his father's hand and reached for his brother's. Virgil tried to shove his hands in his pockets, but the insistent little one latched onto the seam of his pants and refused to let go. 

Logan smiled as he watched Virgil out of the corner of his eye. His son took his hand out of his pocket and let Ernest grab it. He wasn't usually a sentimental man, but little moments like this melted his heart. The young toddler had been a gift, and he could only pray that their relationship would remain good as they grew up. 

As they crested the hill that lead to the park, Logan saw two other children running around on the brightly colored playground. They were clearly very into their game, waving around sticks and kicking wood chips at each other. 

"There's already people here..." Virgil muttered, slowing his pace to almost a stop. Logan shook his head, continuing to walk at a pace Ernest was able to keep up with. 

"They don't own the park, Virgil. This is a public place - we're allowed to be here too."

"I wanna play on the swings!" Ernest insisted, pulling at their hands. 

"Dad, look at them! They could hurt someone!" Virgil tried to argue, gesturing to his younger brother. Logan shook his head. 

"Then why don't you stay with him and make sure they don't?"

Virgil still didn't look happy, but as Ernest kept tugging at his hand and insisting he wanted to go play, it was impossible for him to say no. 

Logan walked with them up until the edge of the playground, where he then moved towards the wooden benches under a small pavilion. He watched his sons go over to the swings, which were thankfully a ways away from the other two boys running along the play equipment. They paused for a moment and watched Virgil walk with Ernest, and that was long enough for Logan to realize that they looked nearly identical. They had to be twins, or at the very least brothers. They both had rather large sticks in their hands, and paper crowns perched in their hair. One red, and one green. 

"Afternoon! Wonderful day for the park, isn't it?" A voice greeted him, and Logan turned to see there was another man sitting in the shade at one of the tables, smiling brightly at him. He had on glasses and a light blue polo shirt, with a logo from some company he didn't recognize. Logan nodded, returning the friendly gesture. 

"Good afternoon. And yes, it's perfect weather for it. My youngest was practically begging to go outside, but it took a while to convince the other one to leave the house."

The other man laughed, a kind and warm sound. "I wish I had that problem! My boys never want to come back in!"

Logan shrugged, taking a seat at the bench across from the other. "Ah, well, teenagers never want to listen, even when you're trying to help, right?" He received a sympathetic hum at that. 

"Oh yeah, the terrible teens. I've heard all about them from my brother. I've got a couple more years before those hit, but then it'll be two at once!" The man then held out his hand, leaning over the table towards Logan. "I'm Patton Foster, by the way."

"Logan Andromeda. It's nice to meet you Patton."

"And you too, Logan! I don't think I've seen you here before." Patton told him, tilting his head. Logan nodded. 

"That would be correct. We just moved to the neighborhood a month or so ago, and it's taken a bit to settle in." Logan adjusted his glasses, his eyes flickering between Patton and his kids on the playground. Ernest was just sitting on the swing, not moving as one of the other kids - the one wearing the red crown - was excitedly talking to him. Virgil looked nervous, but not openly hostile, and Ernest's eyes were shining with excitement, so Logan decided it was safe to leave them for now. 

"Well then, let me officially welcome you to the neighborhood! We're excited to have you here."

"I appreciate it, Patton. The community here seems to be very welcoming and inclusive."

Patton nodded. "I'd say it is! If you ever need anything, you can just let me know! I'm involved in quite a few different groups around town. I'm right over there, across from the park." 

Logan followed the finger Patton pointed, seeing a house peeking out from a low line of trees. 

"Oh, and if your boys want to come over to play any time, they're welcome!"

Logan chuckled, telling him that he'd send them over if he could get Virgil to leave the house again after this. They fell into silence after that. Logan took out the book he'd brought, and Patton had a planner or a journal of some kind that he was writing in. 

He tried to not get too invested in his book, looking up every now and again to make sure his kids were safe and having fun. The kid in the red crown seemed to be brandishing his stick against Virgil, with Ernest right at his side waving a twig. The kid in the green crown was beside the teenager, protecting Virgil against the "attackers." 

For not wanting to come to the park at all, Virgil seemed to be enjoying himself. He launched himself at Ernest, gently tackling the toddler to the ground in a vicious tickle attack, and Logan could hear the younger's laughter all the way across the playground. 

"They look like they're having fun." Patton remarked absently, and Logan glanced over at him. 

"I'm surprised Virgil is playing along. He can be hard to engage." Logan told him. 

"Virgil's the older one, then?" Patton clarified. 

"That's right. Just turned thirteen, and he's entering eighth grade this coming year. My other one is Ernest. Nearly four, and he's starting to pick up on his brother's sass." 

Patton chuckled at that. "I've got a few more years until that, but my boys are already so mouthy. They think they know best." 

"Are they twins, then? They look like they're a similar age."

"Yes! The one in the red crown is Roman, and the one with the green is Remus. They're going into sixth grade next year." Patton smiled fondly as he watched his kids play, and Logan couldn't help but smile as well. "They're a handful, certainly. Neither of them really like school - they much prefer to play outside for hours when they have homework to get done. But watching them play, and weave their elaborate game... it's like free entertainment!"

They both perked up as they heard a cry of pain, and Logan couldn't help but sigh in relief when it was one of the twins who came running up to them, tears in his eyes. "Dad! Remus hit me in the face!"

"I didn't mean to! He got in my way!" Came the cry of the other twin, following his brother. Patton sighed quietly, beckoning Roman forward. The kid had lost his crown in the grass, and there was a small scrap on his face that was turning red by the minute. Patton gently took his son's face in his hands, holding him still as he prodded at the scrape. 

"How many times do I have to tell you two to be careful with those sticks?"

"But we need our weapons to fight the monsters!" Came the chorused response from both kids. Patton sighed - clearly, this was a fight he'd long accepted he couldn't win. 

"Well, maybe you're done fighting monsters for today then."

There was a whine, and suddenly Roman didn't seem to care that his cheek was red. He pulled out of his father's grip and shook his head, proclaiming that he was fine now! Then they both sprinted back to Virgil and Ernest, who had been watching them from a distance. 

Patton shook his head as the twins went back to their game. Logan huffed a small laugh. "Is that a common occurrence then?"

“They love to try and get the other one in trouble, but if it means they have to stop their game then they’re always quick to back out of it.” Logan had to chuckle at the exasperated fondness in Patton’s voice. It was obvious to Logan that Patton loved his children more than anything.

“Like I said, they’re a handful, especially on my own.”

Logan pursed his lips. “You’re a single father as well?”

Patton glanced at him, surprised. “Y-Yes, I am! You too?”

Logan nodded. “Yes. We actually moved to downsize a bit, since Ernest came to stay with us. He’s not biologically mine, you see. He’s my sister’s son, but she... wasn’t able to take care of him, so he’s with us now.”

The other father watched him with sympathetic eyes, seeming to pick up Logan’s hesitation and realizing it was more than what he’d said. “I see. Well, I think that’s extremely kind of you. It’s clear that you care a lot for him.”

Logan nodded, and the conversation trailed off again. They talked on and off until the sun started to get low on the horizon, and Virgil eventually came up to his father, holding Ernest on his hip. “Dad? We’re getting hungry, and Ernest is getting tired too.” 

The toddler whined quietly against Virgil’s shoulder, but didn’t resist when Logan took him into his arms and patted his back. “We can get going then. Did you have fun?”

Virgil stared at his shoes, mumbling that he did. “Can we... um... come back, sometime?”

Before Logan could nod, he heard a small tearing sound and then Patton was holding out a folded slip of paper, smiling knowingly. “My boys are here almost every day, but if either of you two want to come over and play, just give me a call!”

Logan smiled, taking the slip and putting it in his pocket. “I think we might be back tomorrow, in that case.”

“We’ll be here!” Patton called as they left, and Logan heard the twins coming up to their father and excitedly telling him all about the game they’d been playing. With a little bit of prompting when they got home, Virgil started gushing exactly the same way. 

Logan had to wonder, as Virgil took a breath between stories, what kind of magic Patton and the Foster kids had worked on his anxious, introverted son. 

~

That first day at the park had only been the start. Logan took his sons to the park nearly every day during the rest of the summer months. On the days when they had something else to do instead, there was a tangible disappointment from both of his kids. 

Logan mentioned that to Patton one day, the last week before school started up again. He was pretty sure the other father had noticed it, but he wasn’t sure if Patton understood the full scope of what his boys had accomplished. 

“Ever since he began to talk, he was hard to engage. He only wanted to stay by me, no matter where we were. When he started school, the bullying...”

Patton smiled that smile of his, the one that said he understood exactly what he was going through. “Kids can be cruel, sometimes more than adults.”

Logan nodded at that. “They can. But your boys... Roman and Remus have done something that I never knew how to do. They’ve actually gotten him to open up. He talks to me at dinner now. And he spends time with Ernest willingly, instead of just when he asks him to. I just... I cannot find the words to express my gratitude to you, Patton.”

Patton chuckled, shaking his head. He shifted in his seat, sliding across the bench to sit beside Logan. “Virgil’s not the only one who’s changed. Ever since they met your boys, my kiddos have been... well, it’s like they’ve found two more siblings.”

The other father shifted, looking over at the four kids running around on the playground. After that first day, the twins had brought two more handmade crowns, a purple one for Virgil and a bright yellow one for Ernest. They were his sons’ most prized possessions.

“My kiddos... they’ve always fought with each other. It’s natural - they’re so close in age, and so similar, but it doesn’t hurt any less to see your children not getting along. Getting to play outside in the summer dampens that behavior for a while, but even then they squabble about the tiniest things.”

Patton wiped at his eyes, his voice breaking slightly. “But just last week, I came into their room and I found them working together! It’s unheard of! And I have no doubt that it’s because they have your boys to spend time with.”

“Patton...”

The other man smiled, turning back to Logan and placing his hand gently over Logan’s own. “Logan, I’m grateful to you for everything, but it’s not just my boys that you’ve made an impression on. So, I was wondering... do you think Virgil would be willing to come over with Ernest and babysit my boys? If you’re willing... I’d love to take you out tomorrow night.”

Logan blinked. “Patton Foster... are you asking me on a date?”

That smile again. Logan had thought about it before, but he’d not admitted it to himself until now that it made his heart race. 

What a feeling!

“I certainly am. What do you say, Logan Andromeda?”

Logan smiled, leaning into Patton’s warm touch.

“I say I must accept. It’s a date.”

Patton smiled that beautiful, warm, glowing smile once again, and Logan hoped that one day, he could learn how to smile that bright as well.


End file.
